


it ends where it begins

by jilliancares



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Childhood Friends, Coming Out, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Meetings, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up Together, Love Confessions, M/M, accidental confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:42:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23814805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jilliancares/pseuds/jilliancares
Summary: “I broke my arm last year,” Lance said. “I fell out of a tree and had to wear a cast for a month.”“I split my chin on the fireplace when I was four,” Keith said proudly, pointing to a small scar on his chin.“I guess we’re both pretty tough,” Lance concluded. “But if you aren’t hurt, why were you crying?”Keith’s eyes widened. Lance had noticed it immediately — the other boy’s eyes were still red, after all.In which Lance and Keith meet as kids, grow up together, and fall in love (with a few misunderstandings and accidental confessions thrown into the mix).
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 77
Kudos: 774





	it ends where it begins

**Author's Note:**

> prompted by @nanfoodle on twitter!! this was SO fluffy and fun to write and it's exactly what i needed in my life 🥺 hope you enjoy!!!

The day Lance met Keith Kogane, his life changed forever.

All the neighborhood kids were excited about the family moving into the house that’d been on sale for the last month. The neighbors who’d moved out had been old and hadn’t had any kids, so everyone was speculating whether the new family would have kids, whether they’d be their age, whether they’d be _girls_ (and, if they were, calling dibs before they’d even met them).

Lance didn’t care what everyone else thought, because he know _he_ was the most excited at the prospect of there being a new kid on the block. He hung out with the other kids all the time — joined them without hesitation when they knocked on his door to play man-hunt or kickball or freeze tag — but even though Lance hung out with the other kids all the time, he still wasn’t best friends with any of them. It seemed like they all had smaller groups within the group of neighborhood kids, those few friends they would hang out with when everyone wasn’t outside all at once, and Lance had come to the abrupt realization that he didn’t have anyone like that. He was everyone’s friend, but he was no one’s _best_ friend.

So despite whatever dibs the other guys might’ve had, Lance already knew that if a kid moved in down the block, that kid was going to be _Lance’s_ best friend.

Funnily enough, Lance missed it when Keith finally _did_ move in. The other kids had their noses pressed to their windows, watching when the movers’ truck drove down the cul-de-sac, but that day, Lance had happened to be out exploring in the forest behind their houses. He had his own fort out there — one that he’d made himself out of sticks and logs and one abandoned and rusty car door — and he tended to spend a lot of his time out there.

It was thanks to Lance’s presence in those woods that day that he ended up being the first to meet Keith. Because during all the commotion of moving, when Keith’s family was unpacking and carrying things into their new house and greeting the neighbors that came out to see them, Keith snuck into the woods to be alone and sulk.

Naturally, when Lance heard the tell-tale sound of footsteps approaching his fort, he leaped out from it holding a stick-sword aloft, seeing as he’d warned the other neighborhood kids to stay out of his fort a million times. But he was greeted with a face he didn’t know, wide eyes staring at him as Lance slowly lowered his weapon, realizing that he was threatening a complete stranger.

“Uh, who are you?” Lance found himself asking, taking in the other boy. He was wearing a red shirt and black basketball shorts, a Band-Aid on his knee. His socks were mismatched — the same color, but one rising higher than the other — and his shoes were just as ratty and torn up as Lance’s, proving that he was one to play outside a lot, too.

“Keith,” said Keith, crossing his arms. He appeared to be examining Lance as much as Lance was examining him.

“I’m Lance,” Lance said finally. “This is my fort.”

“It looks cool,” Keith said, and his arms dropped back to his sides. He took a step closer. “How’d you get a car door?”

“Found it,” Lance said, grinning. “I dragged it here all the way from the highway. And then my mom made me get a tetanus shot even though I only cut my leg on a branch.”

“Shots aren’t so bad,” Keith said. And when Lance opened his mouth to argue, Keith forged on before he could interrupt. “Not as bad as the dentist, anyway. I rode my bike into a tree and knocked out two of my grown-up teeth. I had to get fakes.”

“No way!” Lance said, and Keith smiled wide, pointing to his teeth. They looked the same as all the others, but Lance was amazed anyway. And then, “I broke my arm last year,” Lance said. “I fell out of a tree and had to wear a cast for a month.”

“I split my chin on the fireplace when I was four,” Keith said proudly, pointing to a small scar on his chin.

“I guess we’re both pretty tough,” Lance concluded. “But if you aren’t hurt, why were you crying?”

Keith’s eyes widened. Lance had noticed it immediately — the other boy’s eyes were still red, after all.

Immediately, Keith’s mouth turned down into a frown. He crossed his arms again. “I just moved here,” he said, and Lance realized with a bout of understanding — coming much too late, for a kid who’d never seen someone in these woods who didn’t live on his very same street — that Keith was the new friend he’d been waiting for. “And I don’t want to live here,” Keith continued heatedly, his anger building up. “I was perfectly happy back home and now I’m _here_ and I don’t know _anyone_.”

His eyes were watering up again, and Lance wasn’t one to sit idly by when his friends were crying. So he closed the distance between them, snatching up another stick off the ground on the way.

“You know me,” he said, stopping right in front of Keith. “I live right down the street. We can hang out _all summer_. I’m sure you’ll learn to love it here!”

Keith sniffed, wiping the back of his hand against his eyes.

“Here,” Lance said, holding out the second stick to Keith. “You’ll need this if you want to defend yourself against the evil emperor, Zarkon — he’s a monster I made up. He’s only supposed to come out at night, but these days, he’s been attacking even during the day. There’s no telling when he might come.”

Keith took the stick — an olive branch, of sorts —and his hand tightened around it. “We should probably hide in your fort. So he can’t sneak up on us.”

Lance grinned. “Now you’re talking!”

It was one of the best days Lance could remember having. He’d rarely ever hung out with a friend one-on-one before, and he learned quickly that he and Keith were well-suited for each other. They were wild and energetic and Keith’s imagination was just as good as Lance’s.

They didn’t return back to their street until late that night, and when they did, they found their parents standing together on the end of Keith’s driveway.

“Lance!” Lance’s mom said. “How many times have I told you to come home before it gets dark?”

“We lost track of time!” Lance said. “Besides, we had to expand the fort. It’s big enough for two people, now!”

Despite the reprimand, Lance’s mom didn’t actually seem too upset. Neither did Keith’s parents. His mom (adoptive mom, Lance would later learn) had pulled him into her side. “I told you you’d make friends right away. Didn’t I?”

Keith groaned in embarrassment, struggling out of her embrace.

And from that moment on, Lance finally had a best friend.

\--

They were fourteen when Lance had his first serious crush. She was a girl in the grade above them. She was beautiful and had an accent and everyone knew that there was something special about an older woman. Lance has heard about it in a TV show, once.

They didn’t share any classes together but they had the same homeroom, which was what really mattered. Lance got to see her — Allura — every day. And he often found time to talk about it.

Whether that was on the bus, his shoulder pressed to Keith’s side, or in the cafeteria, his feet knocking against Keith’s as he talked a mile a minute, or on the bus again, as they headed back to their neighborhood after another long day at school.

In fact, Lance was even talking about her now. They were in Lance’s room, Lance on his bed and Keith in the desk chair, his feet propped on the bed next to Lance. Lance’s older siblings were either at after school activities, work, or away at college, and his parents didn’t come home until late, so it was just the two of them in the house.

Lance had prepared for them an afternoon snack (apples and peanut butter, although the apples were just a convenient way to deliver peanut butter to his mouth, in Keith’s case) and Keith was chewing slowly on an apple slice while Lance talked.

“She had her hair up today,” Lance continued. “ _And_ she laughed at a joke I said this morning! Can you believe that?!”

“Yeah,” Keith said, sounding bored.

Lance pouted. “Are you even listening?”

“Yeah.”

“Ugh, what’s with you today?”

Keith huffed out a breath. “Maybe I’m tired of talking about girls, okay?”

“That’s just because you haven’t had a crush yet,” Lance said. “It’ll be more fun once we can compare our experiences.”

Groaning, Keith pulled his legs off the bed and stood up, setting his half-finished plate on Lance’s desk. “I’m gonna go home,” he said.

“What?” Lance blurted. And then, “Keith!” once Keith actually turned and took a step toward the door. Lance leapt off the bed and snatched his wrist, holding him there. “C’mon, what did I say? Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you,” Keith said. “I’m just... mad. In general.”

Lance tugged Keith’s wrist and Keith turned back around with a sigh, crossing his arms after Lance released him.

“You can tell me what’s wrong,” Lance assured him, suddenly worried. He couldn’t pinpoint the reason for Keith’s sudden change in mood, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was part of the problem.

Keith was staring resolutely at the floor, his eyebrows furrowed, but Lance just waited, giving him time. Usually, if Lance stayed quiet long enough, Keith would fill the silence himself.

Finally, he looked up. “I’m gay,” Keith blurted. Practically spat. “So, sorry, but I can’t exactly _‘compare experiences’_ with you,” he seethed, glaring at Lance. His whole body was tense, as if he were expecting a fight.

And sure, it was a little surprising, but nothing that they would have to fight over. Keith was Lance’s best friend, no matter what. Nothing could change that.

And so, after taking a moment to process that information, Lance said, “Why not?”

Keith looked dumbfounded.

“We can compare experiences just the same. It doesn’t matter if your crush is a boy. You can tell me all about his eyes and hair and smile — I don’t care.”

Keith stared at him for a moment, his eyes steely, his expression carefully blank — and then that façade faded away and it was just Keith behind it, looked relieved and grateful and a little bit scared. He took a step closer and Lance pulled him into a hug.

“You done being moody, now?” Lance teased, figuring Keith probably didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He’d tell Lance more on his own time, and Lance would happily listen. He was definitely curious about how long Keith had known, about how he’d figured it out and whether he’d had any crushes on anyone, but that could wait. For now, he was just glad Keith had been willing to tell him.

“Dick,” Keith muttered, but he pulled out of the hug lightly instead of wrenching himself away, which Lance would always count as a win.

“C’mon,” Lance said, grabbing Keith’s hand and dragging him toward the bed. “No more girl talk. Or boy talk. Let’s watch that dumb anime you were telling me about.”

“It’s not dumb,” Keith protested immediately, his mind already otherwise occupied as he crawled into Lance’s bed. He was always trying to get Lance to watch these shows with him, and a lot of the time, Lance succumbed. “It’s about these brothers and alchemy. It’s hard to explain. You’ll like it.”

“I better,” Lance threatened, but he didn’t really care as long as Keith was happy. He grabbed his laptop and plopped it into Keith’s lap, letting him type in the password and open Netflix. They settled in to watch after that, Keith’s apples retrieved from the desk and (unwillingly) split between them.

—

They were sixteen when Lance realized that maybe Keith was onto something. With the whole gay thing.

They were at Keith’s house and it was late at night, because Lance often ended up jogging back home down the street at the early hours of the morning, or simply staying over if he was feeling lazy enough. He was sitting on Keith’s bed, playing this dumb mobile game on his phone, when Keith walked out of the bathroom.

Lance stared, like he did much too often, these days.

Because Keith was wearing only a pair of sweatpants. He was scrubbing a towel through his hair and texting absent-mindedly with his free hand.

The thought bubbled up like it so often did.

_Since when am I attracted to guys?_

Or, more specifically — _since when am I attracted to Keith?_

It’d been an alarming realization because Lance hadn’t seen it coming at all. One day, he’d been perfectly fine, admiring all the girls in their school, and the next, Lance had found his eyes lingering a tad too long on certain features that he’d never bothered to notice before.

And Keith had a _lot_ of those certain features. Male features.

Still, Lance wasn’t entirely sure what it all meant. He was still attracted to girls. Still found them pretty. Still wanted to kiss them. And he wasn’t sure whether this newfound attraction of his was some kind of fluke.

Lance opened his mouth before he could think — another thing that he did scarily often.

“Keith,” he said, making Keith glance up from his phone. “How did you know you were gay?”

Keith frowned. “You’re not filling out another ‘which gay are you?’ quiz for me, are you?”

Lance flushed, clicking the power button on his phone and shoving it under his leg. “No. I’m just — curious, I guess.”

Keith threw his towel over his closet door, and then he gathered his wet hair into a ponytail at the back of his neck. It made it difficult for Lance to swallow. His hair definitely wouldn’t dry pleasantly like that, but it still begged attention, from the way it showed off Keith’s neck, often hidden behind his too-long hair, to the way it pulled his bangs out of his face, leaving his eyes on full display.

Lance watched as a drop of water escaped from the ends of his hair and landed on his neck, rolling down until it dipped into his clavicle and stayed there.

“It was just obvious,” Keith said. He wasn’t the type to waste words. He always got straight to the point, meaning he sounded blunt and kind of rude to people who didn’t know him well. And the was mostly everyone besides Lance. “Why?”

Lance shrugged. “Just think I might be bi, is all.” The confession didn’t leave him with a tight chest or a pounding heart. It didn’t leave him sighing with relief, either, leaving him to conclude that it must not have been a big deal after all.

Except to Keith, apparently. Because he outright froze, his eyes widening as he stared at Lance.

“Really?” he said quietly.

“Yeah, I think so,” Lance said. “I mean, I’ve always been interested in girls. But lately, I’ve started being like _man, I kinda want to kiss guys_. Is that weird?”

Keith shook his head slowly. “No, not at all,” he said. “Um. Any guys in particular?”

Lance laughed. “Nah, no crushes right now.” He may have found Keith attractive, nowadays, but that didn't mean he had a crush on him. And his crush on Allura had been intense but short-lived. He’d ended up trying to ask her out at the end of freshman year, which had ended in a crushing rejection that hadn’t quite managed to dampen Lance’s spirits, because he’d moved onto the next best thing — befriending her. Now, she drove him and Keith to school every day, and the three of them even hung out on the weekends sometimes.

“Well. I’m glad you’re figuring things out,” Keith said, and he wouldn’t stop looking at Lance, as if there were some kind of answer he was trying to get out of him.

“Yeah, me too,” Lance said. And then, moments later, he gasped. “Oh my God,” he said, realizing something important.

“What?” Keith said, sounding slightly panicked.

“I can take the ‘which gay are you?’ quiz! For _myself_!”

\--

“Lance,” someone said, their voice filtering into consciousness distantly. “Dude, wake up. Your phone keeps buzzing.”

“Mmm?” Lance said.

“If you don’t make it stop, I’m gonna throw my pillow at you.”

Lance peeled his eyes open, finding that light was already filtering into his dorm room and Hunk was glaring at him from across the space between their two beds, looking just as exhausted as Lance felt. It probably hadn’t been a good idea to drink the night before, knowing they had a full day of activities ahead of them, but Pidge was a hell of an instigator.

Groaning again, Lance reached for his phone, smiling despite the hangover when he caught sight of the name on his screen.

**Keith [08:55]**   
_Okay we’re leaving now_

**Keith [09:21]**   
_The drive to AU is insane. Some of these mountains roads don’t even have railings. Idk if you should make this drive to GT alone anymore_

**Keith [09:46]**   
_Just stopped for breakfast, I think we’re about halfway there. You better be awake when we get there_

**Keith [10:32]**   
_25 miles away. Just passed a highway marker_

**Keith [10:53]**   
_Wake up_

**Keith [10:55]**   
_We’re pulling into the visitors parking lot_

**Keith [10:55]**   
_Missed Call (7)_

Lance quickly hit the redial button, listening anxiously as it rang. It’d only been five minutes since he’d missed Keith’s call, so hopefully Keith wasn’t too annoyed.

At first, when he and Keith had been accepted to different colleges, Lance had been heartbroken. He’d had all these dreams and ideas in his head. Ones of the two of them being roommates, of them going to classes together and Lance dragging him to parties. He’d thought they would experience all their college firsts side-by-side, and coming to terms with the fact that that wouldn’t happen had been hard for him.

Keith hadn’t voiced many complaints about it, but Lance could tell that he’d been upset too. And nervous. (He hadn’t said it, but Lance had known he was scared to have to make new friends on his own.)

Lance had ended up finding a roommate on Facebook, and Hunk was amazing and definitely best friend material, which Lance was ever grateful for. Within the first few weeks, they’d befriended a girl on their same hall, Pidge, and now the three of them were inseparable. Even better, Allura went to Altea University as well. Hunk and Pidge were constantly impressed that Lance was friends with someone in the year above them (who could get them into cool sorority parties, to boot).

Keith, unfortunately, hadn’t hit it off with his own roommate. There was no animosity between them, but they weren’t friends, either. They rarely talked, even when they were in their room together, and Lance always found that weird to think about.

Thankfully, Keith had ended up making friends as well. He only had one he was super close to, and Shiro was two years above them, but that hadn’t hindered their friendship at all. In fact, he was the one who’d driven Keith to Altea University from Galra Tech.

Lance had already visited Keith at school twice, and now Keith and Shiro were here to watch the football game today — their schools were playing against each other.

“Sleeping beauty awakens,” Keith said, the second he answered the phone.

“Sorry,” Lance croaked, his voice still thick with sleep. “Are you guys still in the parking lot? I can come meet you.”

Keith laughed. “Actually, I tracked your phone. I think we’re outside your dorm building right now if you want to come let us in.”

Lance gasped in excitement, tumbling out of bed and immediately regretting it, his head pounding. “Be right there!” he cheered before hanging up, making Hunk whine at his volume, and then he was shoving his feet into a pair of slides and grabbing his keys from his desk.

“Be right back!” Lance told Hunk. “Might wanna wake up before they get here!”

Lance’s shoes slapped loudly on the stairs as he raced down to the bottom floor, shoving the door open and grinning at the sight of Keith.

“Keith!” he yelled, immediately dragging him into a hug.

“Ugh, you smell like vodka,” Keith complained, hugging him back anyway.

“This is Lance?” said who Lance could only assume was Shiro, and — holy shit. Lance had never met the guy before, seeing as Shiro had been busy both times Lance had visited their school, but now Lance felt himself blushing. Not just because Shiro was attractive, but because Keith and Shiro were both wearing actual clothes and not smelling like alcohol, meanwhile Lance was wearing sweatpants with holes in them, a t-shirt, and he hadn’t even bothered to brush his hair.

“Yep! Lance, my best friend!” Keith said hastily, stepping out of Lance’s embrace. “Lance, this is Shiro.”

“Nice to finally meet you, man,” Lance said, clapping his hand against Shiro’s prosthetic one. “Sorry that I took so long to wake up. Pidge forced us to drink last night.”

“Oh, I’m aware,” Keith said. “You drunk texted me, as always.”

“Drunk-me has important thoughts that you need to know,” Lance said. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you guys to my roommate. You can hang out while we get ready for the game.”

Lance unlocked the door for them, smiling at Shiro when he thanked him but feeling a pit of unease in his stomach.

It was just. Keith could be a pretty private person. And there was just a teensy, tiny bit of worry gnawing away at Lance. This intruding, attention-demanding thought, shouting in the back of his mind, _what if they’re dating?!_

Lance wanted to think that Keith would tell him. But then, Keith hadn’t told him when he’d hooked up with some guy at a party he’d been to until weeks later, when Lance had visited him. And losing your virginity was something you were supposed to tell your best friend! God, Lance had told Keith _in detail_ the very next day, back during their senior year.

And Lance would want to be happy for Keith. He’d want to be supportive and excited for him, just like he’d actually been when Keith had lost his v-card, but a hookup and a relationship were two _very different_ things. And while Lance might’ve been in denial for a while, he’d made a _very_ important discovery toward the end of their senior year.

He was in love with Keith.

Even Hunk knew. He’d known since, like, the beginning of the semester, because Lance was a blabbermouth. Honestly, it was a surprise he’d managed to not accidentally mention it to Keith after all this time, especially given his affinity for drunk texting him.

Lance pushed open the door to his room, waving his visitors in.

“Hunk, this is Keith and Shiro,” Lance introduced, and everyone started talking as conversation (thankfully) flourished. Lance was still too wrapped up in his thoughts.

Lance grabbed his toiletry kit and a towel, taking a step toward the door since he still desperately needed a shower, and Keith ended up following him. “Show me where the bathroom is?” he said, and Lance nodded, talking away as he led them down the hall.

“That’s the common room,” Lance said, pointing. “Pidge found a skateboard one night and the three of us tried to learn how to do a kickflip in there for _hours_ a couple weeks ago.”

Keith laughed at the right moments, asked questions and chimed in accordingly, and then they were in the bathroom alone, seeing as it was thankfully empty. Many of Lance’s hallmates wouldn’t be up for hours, considering the fact that it was a Saturday morning.

“I’m really excited to be here,” Keith said, bumping their shoulders together.

“Me too. We can pregame for football and then get burgers when we sober up — it’s tradition.”

“Sounds fun,” Keith agreed. “You’re sure you don’t mind if we stay the night?”

“Not at all,” Lance said. “You can sleep in my bed if you want, and we can make a mean floor-bed for Shiro. We do it for Pidge all the time.”

“Perfect,” Keith said, and the day _was_ almost perfect. The game was a lot of fun, and everyone mixed surprisingly well together, getting along greatly and even adding each other on Snapchat and Instagram. At one point, Allura found them in the stands, squealing at the fact that Keith was there and dragging him into a hug. She tagged along for the rest of the night, accompanying them when they went to get the traditional burgers and shakes.

But it was less perfect, that night. Because even though Lance left space in his bed for Keith, Keith ended up falling asleep on the floor. With Shiro.

Lance closed his eyes, ignoring the sympathetic looks from Hunk, and failed to fall asleep for hours.

\--

It was winter break, and after a three-hour drive from campus, Lance was finally home. He’d spent approximately two hours hanging out with his family, but the second Keith’s headlights had turned down their street, Lance had hightailed it out of there.

Now, he was back in Keith’s room once again, after far too long. It felt good to be with him. Normal. Just like old times.

That was, if he could stop talking about Shiro.

“That’s when he snuck us into the club,” Keith was saying, his eyes bright with excitement. Lance still couldn’t understand why he relayed these stories weeks after the fact instead of the day after, like Lance always did. It made Lance feel like he should be saving up his stories too, so he’d have more things to tell Keith when they were actually together like this. So he’d have enough to contribute that he wouldn’t have to listen to stories about Shiro the entire time.

“I mean, he can get in with his actual ID, since he’s 21, but they didn’t even notice that I was using his old license! Maybe they just thought it’d be racist to question us,” Keith said, laughing.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“And the bartenders served me, too. You should see if one of your brothers has an old ID you can have. It’d be fun to go to a bar together. Shiro knows all the best ones down there—”

Lance huffed, rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

“What’s wrong?” Keith said, cutting his story short.

“Nothing,” Lance said.

“You’re a horrible liar,” Keith told him. “Seriously, what’s wrong?”

Lance huffed again, pushing himself into a seated position. Why was it that he was always the one on the bed, and Keith always the one in the chair? A pointless observation, sure, but he was willing to think about anything to distract himself right then.

“Nothing,” Lance insisted. “I guess I’m just tired of talking about Shiro.”

Keith frowned, his expression turning into one of annoyance. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he scoffed. “You talk about your friends all the time.”

“Yeah, but it’s different,” Lance insisted.

Keith laughed, the sound harsh and mean. “What, ‘cause you’re talking about yourself? The world doesn’t revolve around you, Lance.”

Lance gaped at Keith, his words having cut deep. He didn’t think Keith had ever said anything so mean to him. He didn’t think they’d ever been in an actual fight before, either, but this looked like it was quickly shaping up to be one.

“Surprisingly, I’m not that shallow,” Lance snapped. “I just don’t like talking about your boyfriend 24/7.”

Keith was glaring at him, no longer relaxing in his chair but sitting in it stiffly, his hands balled into fists in his lap. “First of all, Shiro’s not my boyfriend,” he seethed. “I would’ve told you if he was.”

“Sure, ‘cause you tell me everything,” Lance said acidly. Keith glared at him harder.

“Second, why would it even matter if he was?”

Lance barked out a laugh. “Oh, why would it matter?!” he said, his words coming out louder, now, more vitriolic. He stood, his anger making his hands shake, infusing his body with energy. He wanted to pace, but Keith stood up too, so he held his ground.

“Yeah!” Keith shouted. “I’d like to know!”

“Because I’m in love with you, you idiot!” Lance snapped, panting for breath. It was something he’d imagined telling Keith a million times, in daydreams he kept locked up tightly inside his mind, though never had he imagined telling Keith quite like this. The second the words escaped him, Lance felt his lungs seize in his chest, felt his breath escape him and fail to return. His body went oddly still, the anger seeping out of him completely, only to be replaced with fear.

“Lance—” Keith said, his eyes wide, and panic shot through Lance like a bullet.

He stormed past Keith, knocking shoulders with him in his haste, and slammed the bedroom door behind him. He could hear Keith calling out for him, but Lance was racing down the stairs already, ignoring the concerned questions of Keith’s parents and bursting out of his house entirely.

His own house was in sight, but Lance’s feet took him on a different path, one memorized from days of his youth, without him even thinking about it.

It’d started to snow, at some point, though Lance hadn’t noticed. It must’ve been the first snow of the year — something he and Keith used to celebrate together, making shitty snowmen in their front lawns and trying and failing to build an igloo every year, even after they’d long since outgrown their snow gear.

Now, Lance’s feet crunched through the snow, his shoes quickly becoming soaked, as he raced through the trees. He was an idiot, saying that shit to Keith. He should’ve kept it to himself. Should’ve gritted his teeth and listened to Keith’s stories about Shiro.

Soon enough, their old fort came into view. It was still upright, somehow, even after all these years. Lance had almost forgotten about its existence, and he was surprised to find it the same as he remembered it, even that old car door still in place.

Feeling tears freezing on his cheeks, Lance wrenched the door open and tucked himself into the fort, realizing that it was much smaller than he remembered it. Even sitting, his head brushed the top, and he got the feeling that if he leaned against any of the walls it would collapse on him immediately.

He pressed his hands to his face, breathing out a shaky breath and watching it cloud in front of him.

Maybe he would go back to school early. The dorms weren’t open, but Allura had an apartment. She might lend Lance her key, if he explained himself. God knew even she was well informed about his hopeless love as much as everyone else, thanks to his inability to shut up about Keith whenever he wasn’t around. And, apparently, even when he _was_ around. That was an interesting new development.

It was while Lance was wallowing in self-pity that he became aware of the sound of footsteps, crunching toward him in the snow. Lance hugged his knees tighter to his chest, cursing his entire existence. It wouldn’t have been hard for Keith to find him. The snow made sure of that.

God, he should’ve hopped in his car and driven away, icy roads be damned.

“Lance,” came Keith’s voice, all too soon. “I’m coming in.”

Lance sucked in a breath, figuring it might be his last. He could probably still escape — there was no doubt that he could punch through the fort’s wall and run off, and his legs were longer than Keith’s, there was a good chance he could outrun him. But even now, he couldn’t bring himself to ruin their fort. Even after all these years.

The door scraped against the ground, and then Keith was ducking into the fort, the area becoming all the more cramped with his presence.

“This is smaller than I remembered,” Keith said, looking around. There were still some things left inside of it. A few action figures. A couple rocks that they’d sanded into flatness on the sidewalks.

When Lance didn’t answer, Keith reached out and grabbed his hand, making Lance squeeze his eyes shut.

“Lance,” Keith said. “Why’d you run away?”

Lance laughed, the sound dry and too loud in their little fort.

“Isn’t it obvious?” he said. “I’m humiliated.”

“I can only think of one reason for you to be embarrassed, and that’s for not waiting for my answer.”

“What answer?” Lance scoffed, opening his eyes. “What is there to say to that? ‘I’m sorry’?” He laughed self-deprecatingly, rolling his eyes.

“More like, ‘I love you, too.’” Keith said quietly.

Lance stared at him, his heart thundering for a whole new reason. “Don’t just say that,” he said, his voice stiff, his chest tight was worry and hope.

“I’m not,” Keith said. His face was red, but not because of the cold.

“You’re serious?” Lance said. “You’re— for real?”

“Obviously,” Keith said. “Lance, I can’t remember _not_ loving you. When you came out to me, I thought I was going to combust. I thought I finally had a chance.”

“You _did_ have a chance,” Lance said breathlessly. “Hell, you’re the reason I realized.”

Keith’s mouth dropped open, and Lance found himself grinning, found his anxiety rushing away.

“Holy shit,” Lance said. “I can’t believe this!”

“You’re telling me,” Keith scoffed, but he was grinning too, looking just as excited as Lance.

“I’m going to kiss you,” Lance said, and Keith didn’t say anything. He just nodded, his hand squeezing Lance’s even tighter.

And so, Lance closed the distance between them, their lips warm against each other, despite the cold of the air and ground and world surrounding them.

(And the fort really was too small for them. In just a few minute’s time, one of them was going to bump something with an elbow, and the whole place would come crashing down, making them jump back in shock. But then Keith would start laughing, and Lance would follow suit, and then they would be kissing again. And, even later, once they’d finally pulled away and caught their breath, they would climb out of the wreckage and started building it again, bigger and better, this time.)

(They wouldn’t get home until late, when the moon was high in the sky and Keith’s parents had gone to bed hours earlier, but Keith wouldn’t hesitate to climb into the bed with Lance. They would talk into the early hours of the morning and fill the silences with kisses, their fingers running tenderly through one another’s hair, along each other’s cheeks and skating over the bare skin beneath their shirts. They would tell each other stories, of when they first realized they were in love and how all their friends had been cheering them on.)

(And then, the next morning, Lance would drag Keith back down to their fort for a breakfast picnic. The snow would be halfway up their calves and they would be shivering by the time they arrived, but Keith would have blankets and their fort would remain fortunately dry.)

But for now, Lance just kissed held Keith close and kissed him in the place it all began.


End file.
